As AI agents generate code at unprecedented speeds, Rackspace infrastructure will allow Blacksmith to accelerate continuous integration workloads and turn sluggish deployment pipelines into near-instant feedback loops
SAN ANTONIO, Nov. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rackspace (NASDAQ: RXT), the operator of the full enterprise AI stack, and Blacksmith, the infrastructure platform for building and testing code, today announced a multi-year agreement under which Rackspace will provide dedicated compute, powered by AMD EPYC CPUs, together with storage representing approximately 2 MW of capacity in Northern Virginia. The capacity is expected to begin deploying in early 2027, providing Blacksmith with a long-term partner to accelerate software delivery lifecycles and power the modern wave of AI-driven software development.
"When we talk to developers and engineering teams, we keep hearing that AI is making it much easier to write code, but getting those changes tested and ready to ship is becoming the bottleneck. We're building Blacksmith to help developers merge code faster and feel confident about what they're shipping. Our partnership with Rackspace will help us scale the infrastructure behind that work," said Aditya "JP" Jayaprakash, co-founder and CEO of Blacksmith.
Accelerating Continuous Integration to Keep Pace with Machine-Speed Software Generation
The increasing adoption of AI coding tools and autonomous agents is now driving growth for Blacksmith as development teams seek to accelerate software delivery. With AI models now generating substantial pull requests and drafting thousands of lines of code in seconds, the constraint is no longer writing code, it is verifying whether that AI-generated code is built and tested before it can be merged. This is rapidly increasing demand for continuous integration (CI) workloads and creating new challenges for development teams seeking to maintain efficient testing and deployment pipelines.
Blacksmith already delivers fast, cost-efficient continuous integration experiences to its customers. By partnering with Rackspace for proven, scalable network, data center, and infrastructure management, Blacksmith can remain focused on optimizing its platform while scaling its infrastructure to support anticipated customer demand.
"Modern AI-driven software development demands speed, scale, capacity, and security. At Rackspace, we are proud to provide the infrastructure to support this evolution and support Blacksmith with dedicated compute and storage as they work to accelerate code testing and deployment for their customers and solve one of today's greatest software challenges," said Gajen Kandiah, Chief Executive Officer of Rackspace. "We are starting to see innovation in GPU and training workloads drive growing demand for inference and CPU-heavy capacity, and this agreement is exactly the kind of long-term, contracted demand that shift creates."
Scaling AI Infrastructure for the Next Generation of Software Engineering
Today's announcement builds on Rackspace's multi-year agreement with AMD, which covers an initial 30 MW phased deployment of dedicated AMD compute across Rackspace's global data centers from late 2026 through 2028, subject to deployment authorizations and financing. The agreement established AMD as a strategic technology partner for the silicon layer of Rackspace's governed enterprise AI stack, expanding the compute options available to customers as their AI requirements evolve. Through the AMD CPUs Rackspace will deliver to Blacksmith, this investment further translates into the foundational runtime layer for modern AI coding, where autonomous agents can build, run, and fix software at machine speed.
About Rackspace
Rackspace (NASDAQ: RXT) is the operator of the full enterprise AI stack, bringing together infrastructure, applications, data and AI platforms across private and public cloud environments. Through its Build | Operate | Innovate delivery model, Rackspace combines engineering, infrastructure and continuous operations to help enterprises deploy and operate AI reliably, reduce complexity and realize measurable business value. Building on more than 25 years of experience operating complex enterprise technology, Rackspace helps customers manage AI performance and costs while maintaining control over their data, technology choices and where their AI runs. Its vendor-neutral, model-agnostic capabilities give customers the flexibility to evolve as technology changes. Learn more at www.rackspace.com.
About Blacksmith
Blacksmith is the infrastructure platform for building and testing code. Its purpose-built compute and caching help teams run CI 2-40x faster, without having to provision, scale or maintain the underlying infrastructure themselves. More than 10,000 companies, including Ashby, Granola, Handshake and LangChain, run their CI on Blacksmith. The company was founded in 2024 by Aditya (JP) Jayaprakash, Aayush Shah and Aditya Maru and is backed by Sequoia Capital, Premji Invest, Peak XV Partners, GV and Y Combinator. For more information, visit blacksmith.sh.
Forward-Looking Statements
Rackspace has made statements in this press release and other reports, filings, and other public written and verbal announcements that are forward-looking and therefore subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in this press release are, or could be, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are made in reliance on the safe harbor protections provided thereunder. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation: the terms, scope, duration, and anticipated benefits of Rackspace's agreement with Blacksmith; the expected size, location, timing, and pace of deployment of dedicated compute and storage capacity, including approximately 2 MW in Northern Virginia and the expectation that deployment will begin in early 2027; the anticipated performance of that capacity; and statements attributed to Blacksmith or its representatives regarding its plans, expectations, or business. Forward-looking statements are often identified by words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "estimate," "aim," "will," "may," "could," "would," "should," "continue," and similar expressions. These statements are based on Rackspace's current expectations, estimates, and assumptions as of the date of this release and are not guarantees of future performance or results.
Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements, and the anticipated deployment, timeline, and benefits may not be achieved in full, on the anticipated timeline, or at all, due to a number of risks and uncertainties, including: Rackspace's ability to secure, build out, power, and deliver data center space and related infrastructure on the anticipated timeline; delays, shortages, or cost increases in the procurement or delivery of AMD EPYC processors, storage, or other components; Blacksmith's ability to utilize the capacity and its business, financial condition, and demand for its services; Rackspace's ability to allocate capacity, capital, and personnel among competing priorities and the effect of that allocation on its other businesses; the availability of financing and capital on acceptable terms, and Rackspace's indebtedness; the timing and amount of revenue and costs associated with the agreement and their accounting treatment; competition; cybersecurity incidents; general economic and market conditions; the outcome and effects of pending or future litigation and regulatory proceedings; and the other risks described under "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in Rackspace's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, each as may be updated by subsequent filings with the SEC.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. Rackspace undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.
Media Contact Rackspace:
Gracie LePere
publicrelations@rackspace.com
Media Contact Blacksmith:
Katelyn Daniell
katelyn@blacksmith.sh
